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I'M SO PRETTY!!!!!!! God help me (and Gadalar for that matter, I mean look at what I did to him <.>), tried a new speed paint tech, came out looking like all my other shit, and TO PRETTY *humps him anyway*

What I'd suggest on the painting part is that don't smooth /smudge/what's the word for it, so much. Leave some sharper color edges. That way you'll add some texture to your works outside of brushes. (like cloth should look clothes instead of same as skin.) And secondly, if you're doing shading, don't only use the same base color's darker hue, it'll almost always look not good.

Since the whole picture's background is mist-like, light blue colored, the characters don't fit in much because you haven't added that color into the characters much. Only thing that links the guy to it is the patterns on the cloak and little bit of shading in his hair. So overall their colors should be very bluish since no visible source like sun there :)

What I'd suggest on the painting part is that don't smooth /smudge/what's the word for it, so much. Leave some sharper color edges. That way you'll add some texture to your works outside of brushes. (like cloth should look clothes instead of same as skin.) And secondly, if you're doing shading, don't only use the same base color's darker hue, it'll almost always look not good.

Since the whole picture's background is mist-like, light blue colored, the characters don't fit in much because you haven't added that color into the characters much. Only thing that links the guy to it is the patterns on the cloak and little bit of shading in his hair. So overall their colors should be very bluish since no visible source like sun there :)

Thank you so much for that! Srsly though, I feel like I have been told this time and time again, and yet I can never figure it out. Would doing the back ground 1st and coloring picking from that help with the characters colors at all you think? I tend to do the characters 1st, and then they stick out like a soar thumb on the over all pic. I also have to get out of my comfort zone of that damn "just add water" blender in Painter, and put in some texture like you said. TY again so much for that.

I always do background first (if there is any background to start with.) What I've done with my color works, is that when I start, I color the whole picture with one color of the becoming background. Bucket tool is so awesome for that. And.. I use only multiply layers on top of the line art. That way the lines will get the color too and won't stand out so much. After the coloring of the whole work, I start to build the colors on the same layer.

Because I use OpenCanvas, the watercolor brush is basically one huge colormixing smudge tool. This allows me to blend in the bucket color of the background with the colors I'm using currently, making the colors blend to each other very nicely, still leaving brush patterns visible to the eye, adding texture. I know I know, I'm crazy for using 1 layer to work with background and main focus, but I wouldn't do it if it wasn't OpenCanvas, since that brush mechanic isn't in any other program I've used.

Where was I? LEAVE THE BLENDER OUT! And the bigger the original image is that you work on, lets say 4000 x 4000 pixels, the bigger details you can do, the bigger wide areas you can color with less effort. Since when you scale it down to view size, all the details will look awesome. That of course takes more time, but it's worth it.

For textures, same as you can add it on pencil works, crosshatching, circular patterns, zigzag and not to forget the brush leaving it's own pattern behind.. IF you don't smudge/blend it off

(added a pic of the comission I did. That's the background. Then I added new _multiply_ layer on top of that doing the character)

It's true, though. My coloring is pretty simplistic. I don't have a good grasp of color-interplay, like what Hamster is getting at in this picture. Even though I understand what she's saying, when I try and apply it, it just doesn't work out very well. I'm also quite jealous of people who can do smaller highlights and detail coloring (like the girl's hair in Daluna's picture), and the different shadow types like Cast and Drop Shadows, because those are areas I really struggle with.

Thank you so much Hamster. It really is very hard to get critique's on DA that explain so much in depth like that. At least from my experience T.T. I want to learn, I stalk conceptart.org forums as much as I can, which is very helpful. I attached a example of a work i did with no blender besides the mob's body (which i probably should not have considering it was a crab) and did the back ground 1st. Only problem is, it was before I got my new LCD monitor, and everything is VERY VERY dark and green (more green than I wanted), and I did not notice how dark and muddy most of my work was until I looked at my gallery on this new monitor. Anyway, I am very appreciative of your critique. Its hard to improve when you don't know what you are doing wrong. I just hate going back to old works once I finished them, but I will definitely apply your info to my next pieces!

And Winter, I struggle with all of those areas as well. I really enjoy your coloring in your works I have scene so far! I just wonder if I went to school at all if things would be different

Orzle, you too went through the "old dark monitor" to "new bright one" too x_x; I could have committed a suicide over most works over the years that looked super fuckeen crap on lil brighter monitor.

What it comes to DA, people are so emo drama queens there if they get even smallest possible constructive criticism over their works... Adding also a note to people in the description that you'd appreciate it, might help ^^

Altanaviewer/modelviewer are good guides when it comes to having trouble how character should look like from a certain view. The 3D engine keeps the proportions correct no matter which angle you watch it. Playing 3D games in observing learning mode helps a ton. Thus I like watching people play the games. I can observe alot more than they about surroundings ect. :)

What it comes to the art, symmetry, anatomy details and 3D seems to be the difficult thing for you Dal ;) *went to surf through DA gallery*

Yes that dark to light monitor killed me >.<. I usually use Altanaviewer just to get the gear correct, but TY for the tip. I didnt even think about using it for pose and getting foreshortening, proportions ect. Usually just used posemanics or a ref pic. Constructive criticism on DA yea, I never get any even when I ask. I wont get butthurt, I want it, so hurt away! It will only help in the long run. Your only the 2nd person to help so I'm glad. Symmetry, its hates me. I have it fine, then i move stuff (making it crooked) because for some reason it looks better to me crooked -.- WHY D:. 3D i doubt I will ever grasp...but I'm gonna try ;D Anatomy details I see what you mean from your own work, I just have to apply it <.>. Thanks again so much for the feed back ;)

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